Macau’s first panda cubs, born in Coloane on Sunday afternoon, will hopefully make their first public appearance with their mother Sam Sam in six months’ time, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Administrative Committee Member Leong Kun Fong told reporters on Monday.

Coloane’s Macau Giant Panda Pavilion, which houses the four-member panda family, will be reopened to the public on July 12, but only the cubs’ father Hoi Hoi will be available for the public to see because Sam Sam will be still busy looking after the twins, Leong said during a press conference at the IACM headquarters.

Pointing out that Sam Sam “is actively looking after the twin cubs”, Leong said while the elder cub, which weighs 135 grams, was mainly fed by its mother, the younger cub, which is severely underweight at only 53.8 grams, was closely monitored by keepers around the clock.

Also speaking during the press conference, veterinarian Huang Wenjun, who is on secondment from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, said the smaller cub would continue to be fed by keepers for the time being.

“Judging from our experience in giant panda breeding, it is very difficult for this kind of underweight [giant panda] to survive. However, our research base saw the growth of a baby weighing 51 grams [when the cub was born],” Wang said, adding that he and keepers at the local pavilion would do their best to look after the cubs.

IACM Management Committee Acting President Lei Wai Nong said that experts had “preliminarily” determined that both cubs are male.